Who will top score in India vs. New Zealand ICC World T20 opener?

AS cricket lovers, it’s hard not to feel a little spoilt with the ICC World T20 almost upon us.

The Aussie summer of cricket is over and the tour of New Zealand is done and dusted.

But we’re not all cricketed-out just yet.

It’s time to tee off from ball one in the competition to crown the best team in the world at the shorter form of the game.

And the real stuff kicks off with New Zealand taking on the host nation, India, in the early hours of next Wednesday morning.

But do we really care who wins? Not when you can clean up with WilliamHill.com.au’s Chase the Boundary promotion.

Hot on the heels of the Australian Open Chase the Ace feature, that rewarded punters with $1 for every ace their player hit in matches they wagered on, the bookie has done it again.

Chase the boundary rewards punters who place a head to head bet of $20 or more with $1 cash for every four and $2 cash for every six hit by players in the team they backed.

There’s no catch either, even if your team loses, you can win.

The Indians are the well backed favourites at $1.41, but the New Zealanders are not without their chances at the juicy odds of $2.82.

We’ll let you decide who wins, while you clean up on free cash from WilliamHill.com.au.

Let’s try and work out who will score the most runs for each team in the match.

Top run-scorer tips

Both sides have a literal smorgasbord of big hitting T20 talent at their disposal, with the Indians led by Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohl and Shikhar Dhawan. Each man has the talent and power-hitting to post massive totals on the T20 stage. New Zealand has lost a little of its big hitting lustre with the retirement of former captain Brendon McCullum, but there are still men in that line up who can bash and crash with the best of them. The obvious one is Kane Williamson, perhaps the most technically gifted batsman in the world right now. But, as we mentioned in our World T20 betting market preview, opener Martin Guptill has some massive fire power at the top of the order and can take a match away in moments. Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls and Corey Anderson all have deserved claims, but the Black Caps might have uncovered a jet in the big hitting Colin Munro. Munro has some big shoes to fill in the lineup. Does he have the ability to stand up and be counted in this massive match?

New Zealand

Our tip: Colin Munro ($5.50 with CrownBet.com.au)

The 28 year old South African product shot to prominence early this year when he blasted a remarkable 50 off 14 balls against Sri Lanka, making it the fastest half century in the history of T20 cricket and the second fastest in all internationals, behind India’s Yuvraj Singh (12 balls). Munro bats at the number three spot once occupied by the great McCullum, meaning he will have plenty of time to get going at the crease and forge out a big score. Munro, at 28, is a prime age to take over the most important batting slot from his captain and will need to have a big tournament to cement his spot in the New Zealand line up. Seen as a T20 specialist nowa days, Munro did get one opportunity at test level, making 40 runs and taking two wickets, but his focus here will be on playing big innings in the shortest form of the game and punters who follow our tips and pick him out will be hoping he channels that focus into something very positive that wins them some serious dough.

Martin Guptill ($3.50)

Kane Williamson ($3.50)

Ross Taylor ($4.50)

Colin Munro ($5.50)

Corey Anderson ($7)

Grant Elliott ($7)

Henry Nicholls ($7)

Mitchell Santner ($15)

Luke Ronchi ($15)

Nathan McCullum ($34)

Tim Southee ($67)

Ish Sodhi ($67)

Mitchell McClenaghan ($101)

Trent Boult ($101)

Adam Milne ($101)

India

Our tip: Yuvraj Singh ($9 with CrownBet.com.au)

The weight of expectation is going to be on that Indian top order to fire. They are more than capable of dealing with it, but something tells is it could be a slow start for the Indian batsman in this tournament. That’s where Yuvraj comes in. Plucked from the wilderness only a month or two ago, Yuvraj is still among the most talented exponents of T20 batting in the game today. As we mentioned, this man’s 12 ball half century was faster than any other player has taken to reach the mark. That means this is a player with a ferocious ability to send the ball to all parts of the park and to score in bunches, very quickly. It doesn’t matter where Yuvraj bats, as long as he gets out there. He will tee off from ball one and, while that does make him a slightly riskier proposition, this is T20 cricket and picking who top scores is, at times, like finding a needle in a hay stack. Grab those longer odds on a true Indian champion and hope he gets in early and goes big often.